Cable sheave for logging railways



.Fume 10, 1924.

J. L, BRADY CABLE sHEAvE FOR LOGGING RAILWAYS Filed NOV. l5

Gnome Patented .lune 10, 1924.,

UNITED STATES JOHN L. BRADY, or NATIONAL, wasnineroiv.

CABLE snnnvn ron tossine aartwnrs.`

Application filed November 15, 1923. Serial No. 675,009.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN L; BRADY, a citizen of the United States, residing at National, in the county of Pierce, State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cable vSheaves for Logging Railways, of which -the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sheaves for use in inclined cableways for logging railroads and other industrial operations. The objects of the invention are to provide a means adapted to receive the cable as it swings from side to side ,and to 4guide it to the center; to ,provide a means whereby said cable receiving and guiding means may be spread across the space between the rails of the track without making the said part of great weight and complexity of construction, thereby reducing the friction between the cable and the sheave because the inertia of the sheave is small. Other objects are toy provide a novel and effective means for mounting and lubricating the sheaves and` to provide a cableway sheave which will be comparatively cheap to make, easy to install and repair, and effective in use.

I attain these and other objects by the devices, mechanisms, and arrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inr

which:-Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the position of such a sheave on an inclined cableway for hauling logs; Fig. 2 is a crosssection of the cableway track showing my sheave mounted therein; Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 4 is a section showing the rim of the central sheave in' relation to the rims of the 4adj acent sheaves; and Fig. 5 is a section of a part of the end sheave and the supporting axle. Similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Cableways for logging operations are, of

necessity, temporary in character and are,

therefore only roughly graded and often have sharp changes in the grades; this results in considerable change in the tension of the cable as the load travels and also results in a swinging action of the cable when there is great length between supports.

My improved sheaves are intended for use under these conditions and are adapted to receive the cable, even on an extreme swing, and to guide it to the center. If now, a single sheave is made broad enough to effectively cover the width of the track it would be a heavy and complicated casting, im-

practical to make and difficult to handle and set up or take down when the cableway is shifted. Also the weight of such a sheave would greatly add to the friction and wear on the cable because of its large inertia.

In my invention I have provided a series of sheaves starting at the center with the smallest in diameter and of increasing size towards the rails of the track. I have illustrated three such sheaves inthe series but it is to be understood that any number may be used, though preferably an odd number. Further I have made kthe sheaves so that each outer sheave laps over the outer edges of the inner sheave.4

VReferring now to the drawings, the rails 1, forming the cableway track, are mounted on the yusual ties 2. At the location where my improved sheaves are yto be mounted the ground is dugy away slightly to form a pit 3. A pair of iron straps 4 are secured to the tops of the ties 2, just inside of the rrails 1, and span the pit 3 to form the sup-ports for the'sheave axle 5. These straps 4 may be bent down, as shown, in order to bring the top of the sheaves within the limit allowed lby the obstructions on the 4log car. The axle 5 is fiXedly secured to the two straps 4 by suitable means, as the U-bolts 6 engaging grooves 7 in the axle and 'clamping its ends to the said straps. The aXle 5 is preferably of uniform diameter from end to end. l

The central sheave 8 is mounted at the center of the axle 5 and is provided with a long hub 9, having rollers '10, of ysuitable hard material, between -said hub-and the axle 5. Thehub'9 is held in place laterally, by the two inner collars 11, secured to the axle 5 by means of set' screws 12, or otherwise. Thrust washers 13 are preferably mounted between the iXed collars 11 and the hub 9. The rim 14 of the central sheave 8 is of less diameter at its center than at its edges, and is provided with a deep groove 15 at said center, said groove being preferably of substantially semicircular section and of the same diameter as that of the cable 16 tobe run therein. This sheave 8, which the cable normally engages, is preferably ofk less width than the other sheaves and, being of less diameter, it has considerably less inertia and runs very li htly on its roller bearings so that the riclli tion between it and the cable is substantially negligible.

The two adjacent sheaves 17 are similar in form but reversed' in position. Each is provided with a hub 18 and is mounted on rollers 10 exactly as the cent-ral sheave 8. Each sheave 17 is held in place on the axle 5 by the above-described inner collars 11 and by an outer collar 19, and has thrust washers 13 on each side of it. i The rims 2O of these two sheaves 17 are in the form of a truncated cone, each having its smallest diameter lapping over the rim of the adjacent sheave at the point of the largest diameter of said adjacent sheave, while its largest diameter is nearest the rail 1. c

Thus it will be seien thatthe sheaves, thus mounted, form a sectional rotating guide for the cable 16, each section vrotating independently of all the others, so that whether said'cable swings 'to engage the outer side of the largest sheave or' strikes the group nearer the center ofthe track, it causes saidA cable to travel towards the center and to engage the groove 15. Also, when'the cable thus strikes the sheaves, it does not have to set the whole mass in motion but only that part with which it has come in contact and thus materially reduces the wear on the cable. Also, it slips from a larger sheave on to a smaller, which is nested therein and thus prevents the cable from getting caught between the edges of adjacent sheaves and prevents its tearing the whole apparatus out.

The above-described group or series of sheaves are lubricated means of a central oil passage 21 extending from end to end of the axle 5, and having small o il holes 22 leading downward therefrom to the several roller bearings of the sheaves. One end of this passage 21 is closed by a plug 23 and the other end is-connected to an oil pipe 24 which leads to a suitable oil reservoir 25, which may be placed at any ldesired pointr but is preferably positioned out of the way of the passing log cars. The passage 21 may be cleaned by removing the plug 23.

Having `therefore described my invention, what 1 claim is 1. A cable guide comprising an axle fixedly mounted across the cableway; a central sheave mounted thereon; complementary sheaves mounted thereon on each side of said centralsheave; roller bearings between the sheaves and the axle; thrust bearings on each side of the sheaves; and a lubricating passage within the axle and having holes leading to lthe roller bearings.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the central sheave is of smaller diameter than the complementary sheaves and wherein its edges are nested within the rims of the said complementary sheaves.

,3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1,

wherein the rims of said complementary,

sheaves are of conical form, the smaller edge thereof being adjacent to and overlapping the edge o-f the central sheave.

4. An apparatus as set 4forth in claim 1,

wherein the rim of said central sheaveis of varying diameter, being smallest at vthe center and largest at the edges.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said central sheave has a, cable` groove at its center and is of varying diameter, being smallest at said cable groove and largest at the edges.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said central sheave and said complementary sheaves have their rims of varying diameters at substantially the same inclination, the smallest diameter being at the,v

center of the group and the largest diameter of the central sheave being nested within the smallest diameter of the complementary sheaves.

7. A cable guide comprising a series of concentric sheaves, each independentlyfrotatable, and each adapted to guide the loose.

cable towards the center of the series whereby, when the cable engages one of said sheaves, it sets it alone in rotation and is guided thereby towards the center of the series. f,

JOHN L. BRADY. 

